Why so serious?

Because my besssssssst friend got married :( Actually 2 of them but this post is for Rajesh Garg...God i called him by this name all this while. I shud have given him a nick name like raj or raji or reggie or...where am i going? OK thats not the point.

The point is ill miss him..not that he is here in blore. He is in mumbai. But still. The point is i dont like change of any sort and this is a big one. The point is he was always there for me. And the point is, im afraid, thats all a thing of the past.

My dreadful year in Powai Labs..the only good thing that came out of it was I got a friend like rajesh..We used to order and have lunch together..i guess thats how all this started. And we started talking and became friends. Then our legendary ceo had to stick his dirty nose into my business and he asked me..in his words.."please keep your friendships in office discreet"..bloody f***er.. I guess that was the day, I and rajesh went out for the first time for a coffee. So much for discreet, Mr ceo.

Legend has it that that was the turning point of this friendship. Then, one day, I was in distress and needed a place to stay in for a couple of hours. Rajesh had keys to the office and he was kind enough not only to open the office for me but also to give me company. And when I didnt want to take certain calls on my cell, he very willingly gave his cell to me for hours together. Not to mention, he is blessed with magical powers to get you any Gorforsaken song/movie/software you want on this planet or from other planets/stars.

Now, when the story has reached a stable point and we are all thinking, "wow Rajesh", let me tell you that Rajesh is from IITB and a 'nerd'. This guy has a problem..of (not) speaking up though he is the most amazing listener. I can recall conversations of over an hour where the guy didnt say more than 2 and a half words. And thats why I always preferred to meet him at IITB. What with all the mosquitoes, atleast he wont be able to sleep. :)

So our angel wanted to know whats up with me and why im all in a mess and stuff..and like i said he has a problem with directly confronting me and so he does a bit of legendary Godgiri and HACKS into my mail account..so he's not such an angel after all..

and yeah then we have our fights and arguments and i try to reason things with him and wow never to speak to him again. And in exactly 1 week i was speaking to him again coz he was too good a friend to lose and he made it so much easier for me now that i didnt have to tell him anything..he found out on his own.

Thats our little story..

And it has only got better with time. There have been so many occasions when I have just 'felt' like speaking to him..and I have literally ordered him to come below his house at as late as 12 in the night..and not even once has he refused. I remember when I had an interview to prepare for and I wanted to study C++, he and I literally snuck into the IITB library (we were not students then). And it was all his plan. And then again, the night before the interview, we were sitting on a bench on a road side under a street light at 12 in the night, studying (he was teaching, i was learning). Who would do that for me?

He has listened to my sob stories sitting on a bench at IIT lakeside. And he has listened for hours..with interest, never complaining, never getting bored (atleast not making it obvious). And I have loved talking to him.

I guess I cant really mention all the times he has been there for me (because i can only type so much). He has been my banker, my teacher, my lunch and dinner buddy, my shrink, my sounding board. And all this within minutes..because I have always called him up at the last moment. Like I say, he is my 911. And I can proudly say, he has never let me down. He even cooked lunch and got it to office when i was not well..God will I miss him..

So now you know why I am sad when he is getting married. When i say sad, I really mean truly genuinely sad. I know many people have given me gyan on how true friends are happy when their friends are happy and all that jazz. But im sorry, im not that good..call me selfish or what you may..but im sad..It was inevitable and it had to happen and I knew it all along. But still...

Who will hand out a handkerchief to me now?